Mini Review: Yasaka Mark V, Spinlord Tiger, Joola Upp, Palio Amigo

[anchorschmidt]

Keep in mind that I am not a very advanced player so the equipment reviewed doesn't have the same spin and speed as something like Tenergy. Nevertheless, I'm not bad and I can do the basic stuff.


1. Yasaka Mark V (used on both FH and Backhand on current blade and Donic Persson Powerallround V2)
Linear, controllable Jack of all trades Japanese rubber with very little tackniness.


a). Serving: 4/5. Capable of generating very good spin while serving but you need good ball-feeling and ball control for it. It was doing nothing for me once I switched from my slightly tackier and spinnier Palio Amigo but it took some practice and improved ball control to create as much spin out of it.


Excellent for creating deceptive serves because you can easily generate much less spin by doing the same motion. I was able to set up points very well against stronger opponents


b) Receiving: 3.5/5. Not that reactive to incoming spin but it's harder to do a lot with the spin that is being given to you. Not that difficult to keep the ball low.


c) Forehand loop: 4.5/5: Excellent control and I could generate some heavy topspin when I used this with Max thickness. Even good opponents were having trouble controlling the ball. It doesn't really punish bad technique but you need good technique to get good spin from it. Advanced players might find it lacking in the speed department but I love the consistency.


d) Forehand drive: 4/5: Good but not excellent for driving.


e) Backhand loop: 5/5: Wow, this is great on the backhand. Lots of spin when the sponge is engaged (ideal for the backhand as we brush less).


f) Flicks: 3/5. I found tackier rubber to be better for flicking serves with the Backhand. I can't do the Forehand flip well so I won't comment on that. The ball doesn't really cling to this rubber.


g) Blocking: 5/5: Not that reactive to topspin and you could give the ball a bit of a punch as well.




Overall: Great rubber and very allround. My recommendation is to get it in Max thickness as the spin was enhanced by quite a bit compared to the 2.0mm rubber without compromising on control. Cost: 25 euros in Germany.




1. Palio Amigo (used only on FH)
A bit tacky, low throw European/Chinese hybrid rubber.


a). Serving: 5/5: I could generate a lot of spin very easily with this rubber. It's hard to NOT generate spin using this while serving.




b) Receiving: 5/5: Very easy to keep the ball low because of the low throw angle. Reactive to spin but I don't have too many problems with that. You could place the ball more easily to uncomfortable areas while receiving and generate sizeable backspin to cancel out the service spin.


c) Forehand loop: 4/5: Plays very directly, which kind of suits my game. You don't really see the ball curving too much but my opponents did say that it jumped off the table with spin (think Ma Long's loop versus Timo Boll's loop)


d) Forehand drive: 5/5: The directness and the low throw angle makes it very ideal for driving the ball.


e) Backhand loop: NA


f) Flicks: NA, didn't use this for Backhand.


g). Blocking: Pretty good because of the low throw angle.


Overall: Advanced players will definitely find this rubber too slow for them but it's very good for beginners. Cost: 13 Euros


3. Joola Upp:
Very tacky, high throw european rubber.


a). Serving: 5/5: Backhand serves had a mean amount of spin with the slightest touch. A sizeable amount of weaker opponents received my serve to the neighbouring table


b) Receiving: 4/5: Had the advantages of tackier rubbers that I wrote about in the Palio Amigo segment but harder to keep the ball low because of the high throw angle.


c) Forehand loop: NA


d) Forehand drive: NA


e) Backhand loop: 2.5/5. The tackiness of the rubber works against the elasticity that is required to create spin while using backhand looping. The ball did not dip compared to when I used the Yasaka Mark V.


f) Flicks: 5/5. Any serve that was slightly high or long could be punished over the table with a backhand flick.


g). Blocking: 2.5/5: Very reactive to topspin, it's hard to keep the ball down. The throw angle is also very high.


Overall: Faster than the Palio Amigo and around as fast as the Mark V. I could also do a mean chop block Waldner/Ma Lin style with this rubber. Cost: 19 Euros.


3. Spinlord tiger (FH and used it for 2 weeks on BH)
Non tacky, elastic european rubber. Noticeably faster than Mark V.


a). Serving: 3/5: Challenging to create spin with this rubber though it can do fast serves pretty well. It has definitely improved my touch though as I have tried my best to keep my spin from the previous rubbers.


b) Receiving: 4/5: Very bouncy in the short game. It's quite difficult to keep the ball low and to push with backspin.


c) Forehand loop: 4.5/5: The high elasticity of the rubber lets you put quite a bit of spin on opening lopos. This rubber is definitely quite fast and opening topspins are definitely faster, compared to the slow looping curve that I would get from the Mark V. I've heard that it's a good thing to have a faster spinny opening topspin.


d) Forehand drive: 5/5: The higher speed of the rubber really shines in this department. You have to go over the ball because of the high throw angle, which is good if case you have a chicken-winged forehand and want to improve it.


e) Backhand loop: 3.5/5. Kind of bouncy and not as controllable as regular Mark V. It doesn't seem to have as much dwell as Mark V.


f) Flicks: 3/5: The non tackiness makes it quite hard to flick the ball using my BH.


g). Blocking: 4/5: Blocking wasn't a problem. The rubber can counter-hit really well though.


Overall: About 1.3x the speed of Mark V. It's like a faster version of Sriver from what I've heard. Cost: 16 euros.

 

[raazzz]

Is it just me who think that mark V was much better with the old celluloid ball? I didn't like it at all with the new ball, have someone felt a similar experience?

 

[Der_Echte]

In 4 yrs of daily play and oe a hundred tourneys and visits to other clubs, Der_Echte NEVER EVER saw a single sheet of Mark V, ever.

ONCE, I saw someone operate a bat with Sriver on it. This guy was Div 0 regional, prolly about TTR 2000 if he was in Germany, he was killin' jokers with his touch.

 

[anchorschmidt]

Is it just me who think that mark V was much better with the old celluloid ball? I didn't like it at all with the new ball, have someone felt a similar experience?

I haven't tried it with the new ball yet but it would be a pity. I've heard that Mark V was played at the highest level with the old 38mm ball and still works pretty well (for me at least) with the 40mm ball.

 

[anchorschmidt]

In 4 yrs of daily play and oe a hundred tourneys and visits to other clubs, Der_Echte NEVER EVER saw a single sheet of Mark V, ever.

ONCE, I saw someone operate a bat with Sriver on it. This guy was Div 0 regional, prolly about TTR 2000 if he was in Germany, he was killin' jokers with his touch.

I haven't seen anyone use Mark V here either. The best players are using either Tenergy or Bluefire. A lot of less advanced players are using Sriver but I'm the only one that's using Mark V.

The best players have heard of it though and say "Oh yeah, that classic spinny rubber"

 

[Der_Echte]

Schmidt, in earlier days in Germany, Nittaku Magic Carbon seemed to be a very dominant rubber for amature players.

 

[Der_Echte]

I made my post about Sriver and Mark V for a reason. (in my campaign against strict pundit thinking)

Pundits blindly recommend either rubber (in THIN and unplayable thickness) and pimp it as the ONLY way to learn and grow in TT.

I can see where someone is coming from if they have actually seen something done and it worked. Yet in our sport, there is obviously more than one way to do anything, even if there are pretty firm concepts involved. Equipment is also a firm concept, example, you will not learn to loop very well with anti-rubber, but there is at LEAST more than TWO rubbers suitable for this task. Footwork and stance and position are pretty firm concepts and even then, there are more ways to do them effectively than ONE.

Even to this day, we see so many players ask on TT forums how to do this or this or in general how to grow their game. The standard pundit response is to use an ALL to ALL+ 5 ply slow wood blade and THIN sponged Sriver or Mark V... and they play it off like that is the best thing that will offer control to a player. Don't get me wrong, this kind of equipment in certain situations has better control than a TBS with T05, like flat drives and some shots not requiring a lot of spin, but is there anyone in their right mind going to say that you will learn to loop vs underspin or counterloop with the pundit bat better or easier than a suitable equipment with modern rubbers in 2.1 or thicker sponge?

IF what pundits hold as true is indeed the true and only way, then we would still see boatloads of Sriver and Mark V in use today with huge volumes of sales.

The utter absence of these rubbers, in a country (Korea) we all hold as a very strong country in both amature and pro play, that are champions of pundit thought should speak volumes.

 

[anchorschmidt]

I made my post about Sriver and Mark V for a reason. (in my campaign against strict pundit thinking)

Pundits blindly recommend either rubber (in THIN and unplayable thickness) and pimp it as the ONLY way to learn and grow in TT.

I can see where someone is coming from if they have actually seen something done and it worked. Yet in our sport, there is obviously more than one way to do anything, even if there are pretty firm concepts involved. Equipment is also a firm concept, example, you will not learn to loop very well with anti-rubber, but there is at LEAST more than TWO rubbers suitable for this task. Footwork and stance and position are pretty firm concepts and even then, there are more ways to do them effectively than ONE.

Even to this day, we see so many players ask on TT forums how to do this or this or in general how to grow their game. The standard pundit response is to use an ALL to ALL+ 5 ply slow wood blade and THIN sponged Sriver or Mark V... and they play it off like that is the best thing that will offer control to a player. Don't get me wrong, this kind of equipment in certain situations has better control than a TBS with T05, like flat drives and some shots not requiring a lot of spin, but is there anyone in their right mind going to say that you will learn to loop vs underspin or counterloop with the pundit bat better or easier than a suitable equipment with modern rubbers in 2.1 or thicker sponge?

IF what pundits hold as true is indeed the true and only way, then we would still see boatloads of Sriver and Mark V in use today with huge volumes of sales.

The utter absence of these rubbers, in a country (Korea) we all hold as a very strong country in both amature and pro play, that are champions of pundit thought should speak volumes.

You're right in many ways. However, I feel like asking players to start out with Sriver or Mark V in >1.8mm on an All+ blade is good advice. Only after playing properly for a year do I feel the need for more power in some situations. I tried out a blade of an advanced player once I was starting out (Some Tibhar OFF+ blade with Tenergy 64 on both sides) and I just didn't have good enough touch for short play. It just seemed way too fast. I felt scared to swing too hard.

At the time, I was using Palio Amigo and Joola Upp on a Galaxy N10. I switched to a Donic All+ blade with Mark V on both sides and now I'm using my setup because I didn't like the straight handle of the Donic blade. My FH rubber is definitely faster than Mark V but I still love using Mark V on BH (like you love using your Dawei rubber).

Though it might not be the optimal set up for a certain kind of play, Mark V isn't slow at all in my opinion. German websites (contra and spinfactory) classify it as an OFF rated rubber (Der Belag ist extrem schnell und spinfreudig und eignet sich damit hervorragend für das schnelle, spinbetonte Topspinspiel. Durch die Kombination mit einem gefühlvollen mittelharten Schwamm hat der Mark V dennoch erstaunlich gute Kontrollwerte.) Very casual players have trouble controlling it once they use my bat as it is much faster than most premade setups.

In general, I feel that you can't really go wrong in starting off with Mark V or Sriver (though I agree that the sponge thickness should be at least 1.8mm) but it's still prudent to try other things to see what suits your game.

 

[Tinykin]

Recommending Sriver/MarkV plus allround blade (usually Stiga) is not careless pundit thinking. There are many sound and proven reasons why this combination is probably best for beginners and the advanced allround game-play.
The top boys don't use it as the Spring sponge rubbers have taken over for the aggressive-loop-play-style that dominates.
But as a class of rubber+blade, the Sriver/MarkV + Stiga(All) is still the most popular overall. It's just that today, there are far more and cheaper competitors that do essentially the same thing performance-wise.